The budget for the Division of Labor in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 was $1,555,641.<ref>[http://budget.alabama.gov/pdf/gf/GF2013.pdf ''Alabama Government Website'' "State of Alabama General Fund, 2013 FY Appropriations," Accessed March 18, 2013]</ref>

+

The budget for the Division of Labor in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 was $1,555,641.<ref>[http://budget.alabama.gov/pdf/gf/GF2013.pdf ''Alabama Government Website'' "State of Alabama General Fund, 2013 FY Appropriations," accessed March 18, 2013]</ref>

The Alabama Commissioner of Labor is a state executive position in the Alabama state government. The commissioner is chief executive of the Alabama Department of Labor, which "promotes peaceful settlement of labor disputes and enforces state labor laws."[1] He or she is also responsible for educating newly unemployed Alabamans about their rights and negotiating with businesses and labor organizations to "minimize the financial burden" on the unemployed.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is Tom Surtees. Surtees was the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Director, and became Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Labor on October 1, 2012 when a merger took place, eliminating the position formerly held by Jim Bennett.[2] Bennett was originally appointed in 2003 by GovernorBob Riley and kept on by current Governor Robert Bentley.[3]

Authority

The office of labor commissioner is authorized by statute, not the state's constitution. Section 25-3-2 of the Code of Alabama states that the commissioner is "responsible ... for the administration of the Department of Labor."[4]

Code of Alabama, Section 25-3-2

The Department of Labor shall be headed by, and shall be under the direction, supervision and control of an officer who shall be known and designated as the Commissioner of Labor.

Qualifications

Alabama law does not provide any specific requirements for holding office, other than that the incumbent must deposit a bond with the state "conditioned upon a faithful discharge of his duties" and that he must devote full time to his official duties. The commissioner also may not hold any other political office or any private sector position that would conflict with his official duties.

Code of Alabama, Section 25-3-2

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties the commissioner shall take the constitutional oath of office as provided for under the Constitution and shall execute bond in such penalty as may be prescribed by the Governor, conditioned upon a faithful discharge of his duties and payable to the State of Alabama. The commissioner shall devote full time to his official duties and shall not hold another office under the government of the United States, or under any other state, or of this state or any political subdivision thereof during his incumbency in such office, and shall not hold any position of trust or profit, or engage in any occupation or business the conduct of which shall interfere or be inconsistent with his duties as Director of Labor.

Appointments

Click here to view a large-scale image of the Alabama state government organizational chart, as of 9/11/12.

The commissioner is appointed by the governor and serves at his pleasure.[4]

Term limits

There are no particular term limits specified for the commissioner.

Vacancies

Vacancies are filled "in the same manner as original appointments are made," i.e. by the governor.[4]

Duties

The commissioner helps resolve labor disputes, enforces state labor laws, and promotes cooperation between labor and business leaders. He also coordinates with federal officials from the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to its official website, the Department of Labor "provides mediation services, conducts union representation elections and files annual reports on unions with more than 25 members. Additionally, it publishes job related illness, injury and fatality reports through a series of federal surveys." It also enforces child labor laws and performs safety inspections of boilers, elevators, pressure vessels and escalators. The commissioner oversees all of these activities in his role as head of the department.

In some respects the duties of the Department of Labor overlap with those of the Department of Industrial Relations. The latter, for instance, is responsible for policy pertaining to job injuries.

The commissioner has a particular mandate to avoid "strikes, lockouts, boycotts, blacklists and discriminations" by facilitating the peaceful resolution of labor disputes. Like most Alabama state executives, he is required to make an annual report to the governor on his department's activities and keep a permanent record of his official acts.[4]

Divisions

Administration

Child Labor Enforcement

Boiler/Elevator

Non-Payment of Wages

Fatality Reports

State budget

The budget for the Division of Labor in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 was $1,555,641.[5]

Compensation

Historical officeholders

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders. That information for the Alabama Commissioner of Labor has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Alabama + Commissioner + Labor + Surtees

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.